This invention relates to the outer blade attachment structure of an electric razor with a mesh blade outer blade assembly that mounts in a detachable manner in an outer blade frame which constitutes part of the razor case.
The outer blade assembly of an electric razor with curved-arched shaped sheet metal mesh outer blades connects to the outer blade frame in a detachable manner. This is to allow detachment of the outer blade assembly for whisker removal during cleaning. A detachable outer blade assembly and outer blade frame structure is described in Japanese Non-examined Patent Publication No. 5-309181 issued Nov. 22, 1993. Turning to FIGS. 1 and 2, the electric razor disclosed has an outer blade assembly 26 with two rows of outer blade units 21 which mount in a parallel fashion via links 22 in an outer blade case 23. The outer blade assembly 26 mounts in a detachable manner in an outer blade frame 24. Latching pieces 23A are provided on the outer blade case 23 to make the outer blade assembly 26 detachable. The latching pieces 23A project out, and extend downward from the ends of the outer blade case 23. The upper ends of the latching pieces 23A connect to the ends of the outer blade assembly 26 allowing the latching pieces to deform elastically. The outward projecting lower end of each latching piece 23A catches in latching detents 24B in the outer blade frame 24. When the outer blade assembly 26 is mounted in the outer blade frame 24, the latching pieces 23A are inserted in the concave latching detents 24B. In an electric razor with this type of outer blade assembly attachment structure, the latching pieces 23A catch in the latching detents 24B to keep the outer blade assembly 26 from inadvertently disconnecting from the outer blade frame 24.
Latch releases 25 are provided on the outer blade frame 24 to release the outer blade case 23 from the outer blade frame 24. The latch releases 25 are made from elastically deformable plastic. The lower ends of the latch releases 25 are fixed to the casing 28 of the electric razor. The latch releases 25 are disposed within the concave latching detents 24B of the outer blade frame 24 to allow the upper ends of the latch releases to push the latching pieces 23A out of the detents.
In this type of electric razor outer blade assembly attachment structure, the outer blade assembly 26 can be separated from the outer blade frame 24 by pressing the latch release 25 buttons. This is due to the upper ends of the latch releases 25 pushing the latching pieces 23A out of the outer blade frame 24 concave latching detents 24B. However, this structure has the disadvantage that the outer blade assembly 26 cannot be readily removed from the outer blade frame 24 when the two are solidly connected. Particularly since the outer blade case 23 is made of thin plastic, it is difficult to squeeze the latch release buttons and pull the outer blade assembly with sufficient force. The reason why the outer blade assembly 26 cannot be easily detached from the outer blade frame 24 is because when the latch releases 25 are pushed, the upper ends of the latch releases 25 push against the surfaces of the latching pieces 23A and the latching pieces 23A slide upward while being pushed. When the latching pieces 23A slide upward, pressure from the latch releases 25 has less effect and more force is required to continue removing the latching pieces 23A from the latching detents 24B. Smooth movement of the latch releases 25 and the latching pieces 23A is difficult when the latching pieces 23A slide upward under pressure.
The present invention was developed to solve these problems. It is thus a primary object of the present invention to provide an electric razor outer blade assembly attachment structure wherein the outer blade assembly can be reliably connected to the outer blade frame and can also be easily removed from the outer blade frame.
The above and further objects and features of the invention will more fully be apparent from the following detailed description with accompanying drawings.